Breathless
by shiningsobrightly
Summary: AU. Ziva has just moved to America after the death of her little sister. Here, she begins to discover love and life and happiness. But can it last?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Breathless  
Author: shining so brightly  
Rating: T  
Summary: AU. Ziva has just moved to America after the death of her little sister. Here, she begins to discover love and life and happiness. But can it last?  
Disclaimer: NCIS is not mine.  
Author's Note: Please read and review. Constructive criticism is love. And, if anyone wants to beta, please message me. I have no beta. :(

Ziva David stared at the impressive building in front of her, reluctant to open the door. Wind blew through her coat, chilling her straight to the bone. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She normally wasn't nervous, but today she felt positively overwhelmed. _New school. New country. New life. _It had been her mantra since she left Israel with her father. After her little sister, Tali, had died in a bombing, her father had felt it would be a good idea to leave the country for a while.

_Tali. _She missed her sister terribly. Especially in times like these. Tali had been more than her sister. She had been Ziva's best friend and confidante. They had no secrets. She missed that.

Sighing, she pushed the mournful thoughts from her head. They would not bring Tali back, nor would they help her here. She looked down at her schedule, despite having memorized it, and checked her homeroom number. _Room 204. That would be upstairs. _

She walked up to the second floor and then the bell rang. She checked her watch. _8:16. I am late for school. _She walked quickly, trying not to be too much later. Unfortunately for her, the boy behind her was also trying not to be late. He ran into her, causing his books to scatter onto the ground. The momentum pushed Ziva forward and she barely managed to catch herself.

"Great. Gibbs is gonna send me to Principal Shepard's office. My dad's gonna be pissed." She turned around to see a boy around her age trying to gather his things off the floor.

"Allow me to help," Ziva said, quickly gathering his things off of the floor. She handed them over and he grinned at her. "Thanks. My name's Tony by the way."

"Ziva," she answered, returning his smile. "I take it that you are going to room 204, yes?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I am going to room 204 and, according to my schedule, that is the classroom belonging to Mr. Gibbs," Ziva explained. "Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find it. The room numbers skip from 203 to 207."

"Oh. That's easy, it's down this way." He led her around the corner and down the corridor to room 204. They entered the classroom about two minutes late.

"Dinozzo, nice of you to join us," the man who she presumed to be Mr. Gibbs said. "Take your seat." He turned his attention to Ziva. "Who are you?"

"Ziva David. I am new," she explained.

"Okay, Ziva. Take the seat next to Dinozzo. I'll mark you both on time today."

Ziva sat down at her seat, grateful that the teacher would not mark her absent for homeroom.

"Tony, I thought you said you were going to pick me up this morning," a black-haired girl with a spiderweb tattoo on her neck said, crossing her arms in front of her. "I had to have my brother drive me to school. My brother, Tony. He picked up all of his stupid friends, too. You better have a good reason for ditching me."

"I didn't ditch you Abby. My car broke down." He smiled at her. "I'll tell you what. I'll take you to Hot Topic this Saturday. I'll buy you anything you want."

"Okay," Abby replied. "But you better not do it again." She then looked over at Ziva. "Hi, I'm Abby."

"Ziva."

"You're new here, right? I don't mean new to the school, because I heard you talking to Gibbs. I mean, like, new to DC. Where are you from?"

"Israel." She felt sad after mentioning her beloved country. She missed it. Ever since her father had announced, three weeks after Tali's death, that they were moving, Ziva's heart ached. That had been two months ago. She missed Michael. She missed her Aunt Nettie. But there was no use in thinking about it. Her father would not change his mind so she might as well learn to live with it.

"Israel, wow." The boy in front of her turned around in his seat. "Hi, I'm Tim."

Ziva opened her mouth to speak but Tony interrupted before she could say anything. "Hey, McGeek, did you do your history homework?"

"Yes I did." He looked back at Tony. "And no you can't copy it." Tony's face fell and Tim smirked before turning his attention back to Ziva. "So what made you come here?"

"A change of scenery," Ziva said. It was true. After Tali died, her father could not stand looking at all of the places that Tali loved. Out of his three children, Tali was the only one her father truly cared about. And now she was dead.

"So have you been to the Smithsonian yet?"

"I am on the edge of tears here, McGee," Tony said, shaking his head. "You see a beautiful girl and one of the first things you ask her is if she's seen the Smithsonian? You've got a lot to learn."

Ziva just smirked as Tony teased Tim mercilessly. It was good-natured teasing, much like the times she teased Tali. Nothing was meant by it.

"So, are they always this..."

"Juvenile? Yes," Abby answered. "But they really are great guys. So what's your next class?"

"History. And yours?"

"Chemistry." Abby smiled.

Abby and Ziva talked while Tim and Tony argued. They did this until the bell rang. The four exited the room with their classmates, each going to their intended destinations.

Ziva's history class was in room 309, so she quickly walked up the stairs and found the room. She got there with time to spare. "Hello, Ziva."

She looked up to see Tony standing in front of her desk. "You and I are in the same class?"

"Yep. McGeek's in here too."

"Just so I am not behind, what have we covered in this class so far," Ziva asked. She hoped that she wouldn't be too far behind her classmates.

"We just finished the Mayan civilization. I don't read ahead but I think we're covering the Incas next."

"Good." At least it was something that she knew. Her knowledge was by no means extensive, but at least she had some basic knowledge.

The rest of the class started filing in slowly.

"I wonder where Timmy is?"

Tony and Ziva looked up to see Tim file in just before the bell rang. He sat down next to Tony and glared at him. "You switched our locks. You and Abby are the only people other than me who have the combination."

"And why do you assume it was me?"

"One, because Abby wouldn't do it. Two, because you would do it. And three, because I tried your combination and it unlocked."

"Knew I shoulda used someone else's lock."

"Tony, you almost made me late for class!"

"For the first time in your whole life McNerd. Relax, I don't think teacher's gonna be too mad."

Ziva smirked appreciatively. "You have never been late to class? Impressive."

"Yeah. Tony's been late enough times for both of us though."

Tim and Tony argued playfully until the teacher walked in. "I see we have a new student. What is your name my dear?"

"Ziva David."

"All right, Miss David. I am Doctor Mallard. You may call me Ducky. I see you have already found a book, please see me after class so we can officially issue it to you." He then addressed the rest of the class. "Today, we will be studying the Incan civilization. I want you to open your books to page 174 and read the entire chapter. Then answer the questions at the end. I want you to do it silently."

Ziva opened her book and began to read.


	2. Chapter 2

Ziva sighed as the bell rang, signaling the end of her morning classes and the beginning of her lunch period. She walked down to the cafeteria and searched the room for a place to sit. She didn't search long, however, before she heard her name being called across the room. She looked up to see Abby waving frantically, trying to get her attention. Smiling, Ziva walked over to the table.

"Hey Ziva. So, how was your morning," Abby asked with a smile. "Mine was great except for English. Fornell gave us a pop quiz. Which wouldn't have been so bad if I had known about the quiz. But then again, it wouldn't have been a pop quiz if I had known so..." Abby took a breath. "Anyway, how was your morning?"

"It was fine," Ziva answered. Her morning had been alright except for the guilt that was running rampant through her head. She had been able to focus her thoughts. It was something her father had taught her at an early age. Focus and don't feel. _Strange how things do not always work that way, Aba, _she thought. However, she would never tell this to his face. Despite herself, she was afraid of her father.

"Earth to Ziva." Abby's words snapped her back into reality.

"Sorry, I must have zoned off," she said.

"It's zoned out, Ziva." She looked up to see Tony staring at her.

"American idioms," Ziva muttered under her breath. The English language was hard enough to master without the added phrases that did not translate into other languages.

"Did she just call me an idiot?"

"Idiom, not idiot," Ziva said, rolling her eyes. She paused for a moment. "Although..."

"Hey," Tony exclaimed. "That's not very nice."

"Who said I was nice?" Ziva batted her eyelashes at him and Tony visibly gulped. She smirked.

"Ahem." They both looked over to see Abby, who was smirking at the exchange between the two. "So, anyway, where's Timmy?"

Tony looked very relieved by the change of subject and replied, "McGeek should be coming down soon."

"Why do you tease him, Tony," Ziva asked, genuinely curious about his behavior toward Tim.

"It's done with love." Tony smiled. "Speaking of little Timmy, here he comes."

"You put a snake in my locker!"

Abby looked amused, though she was obviously trying to hide it. "You put a snake in his locker?"

"Relax. It was just a garter snake. I borrowed it from the biology lab." He grinned. "Twice in one day, McGoo?"

"Just wait," Tim said, obviously irritated at being the victim of two practical jokes in one day.

"So, what classes do you have next," Ziva asked them, changing the subject while mentally reminding herself to ask Tim what he had in mind. She hoped that she shared her next class with the three of them. She liked all three of her new-found friends. Tim for his sweet shyness, Abby for her outgoing nature, and Tony for...well, she had a few reasons to like Tony.

"I have P.E," Abby answered. "So do Tim and Tony. What about you?"

"Same." Ziva was pleased. She wanted to get to know them better.

Abby looked over to the lunch line and then back at her friends. "Well, the line's gone down. We better go get our food."

They had gotten so wrapped up in talking that their lunch period was half over. The four hurriedly got in line.

After they got their lunches, they sat back down to eat. It was relatively peaceful until Tony began throwing french fries at Tim. Just as Tim threw one back, a teacher came over and told them to stop or else they would have detention. As soon as she left, the four of them laughed.

Ziva wasn't entirely sure why she was laughing, but it felt good. She hadn't laughed since Tali died. The rest of lunch period was filled with laughter and conversation. After the bell rang, the four hurried off to gym class.

As Ziva and Abby walked out of the girl's locker room, Ziva was surprised at the stares she was getting. They were standard gym clothes. A pair of shorts and a tank top. A boy let out a whistle and then they heard a cough from the doorway. "Mr. Sax, see me after class."

"Alright class, sign your name on the attendance sheet as I pass it around. Once it comes back to me, I'll explain your assignment." The attendance sheet was passed around quickly and quietly before being handed back to the teacher. He looked over the sheet and looked at Ziva. "I see we have a new student. Miss David?"

"Yes." She had heard the same words in each of her previous classes and, to be honest, it was getting old.

"I'm Coach Vance," he paused, and then addressed the entire class. "Today's assignment is doubles tennis. I want you to get into groups of four. Abby grabbed Tim and Tony by the hands and dragged them over to the wall. Ziva followed the three of them.

"Okay, I want one two people from each group to come up and get four racquets and a ball."

"Come on Timmy," Abby said, linking her arm through Tim's.

"Are they dating," Ziva asked, gesturing to the two of them. They looked very comfortable with each other. They seemed to be more than just friends.

"Used to. Abs broke it off."

"It doesn't look too broken off to me," Ziva observed.

They had no time to discuss it further as Abby and Tim returned with the racquets and ball.

"So who's on who's team? I say we play it boys against girls," Abby said. The other three nodded in agreement.

The first serve went to Abby and Ziva and, soon the ball was bouncing back and forth. The first point went to Abby and Ziva. As well as the second. And the third.

"Come on, McGeek. We're getting beat by two girls," Tony said, staring at his partner who was breathing heavily.

One more point to the girls.

"Give up," Ziva asked playfully.

"No way," Tony replied. He cheered as he finally scored one point. Only to be deflated by Ziva scoring another point for the girls.

"How does it feel to be beaten by a girl, Tony?" Abby and Ziva smirked as the bell rang. Tony just sighed.

A/N: This chapter was really hard to write. Have no idea where my muse went for a while. She came back finally, though. I'm not sure I like the finished product. What do you think? Reviews are love. :)


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